This paper examines the impact of urban sprawl, a phenomenon of particular interest in Spain, which is currently experiencing this process of rapid, low-density urban expansion. Many adverse consequences are attributed to urban sprawl (e.g., traffic congestion, air pollution and social segregation), though here we are concerned primarily with the rising costs of providing local public services. Our initial aim is to develop an accurate measure of urban sprawl so that we might empirically test its impact on municipal budgets. Then, we undertake an empirical analysis using a cross-sectional data set of 2,500 Spanish municipalities for the year 2003 and a piecewise linear function to account for the potentially nonlinear relationship between sprawl and local costs. The estimations derived from the expenditure equations for both aggregate and six disaggregated spending categories indicate that low-density development patterns lead to greater provision costs of local public services.

Solé-Ollé, A. (IEB); Hortas-Rico, M. (IEB)

XREAP2008-10.pdf

This article analyses the effect of immigration flows on the growth and efficiency of manufacturing firms in Spanish cities. To date, most studies have tended to focus on the effect immigrants have on labour markets at an aggregate level. Here, however, we undertake an exhaustive analysis at the firm level and report conclusive empirical findings. Ten years ago, Spain began to register massive immigration flows, concentrated above all on its most dynamic and advanced regions. Here, therefore, rather than focusing on the impact this has had on Spain’s labour market (changes to the skill structure of the workforce, increase in labour supply, the displacement of native workers, etc.), we examine the arrival of immigrants in terms of the changes this has meant to the structure of the country’s cities and their amenities. Thus, we argue that the impact of immigration on firm performance should not only be considered in terms of the labour market, but also in terms of how a city’s amenities can affect the performance of firms. Employing a panel data methodology, we show that the increasing pressure brought to bear by immigrants has a positive effect on the evolution of labour productivity and wages and a negative effect on the job evolution of these manufacturing firms. In addition, both small and new firms are more sensitive to the pressures of such immigrant inflows, while foreign market oriented firms report higher productivity levels and a less marked impact of immigration than their counterparts. In this paper, we also present a set of instruments to correct the endogeneity bias, which confirms the effect of local immigration flows on the performance of manufacturing firms.

Teruel-Carrizosa, M. (GRIT); Segarra-Blasco, A. (GRIT)

XREAP2008-11.pdf

This paper analyses how fiscal adjustment comes about when both central and sub-national governments are involved in consolidation. We test sustainability of public debt with a fiscal rule for both the federal and regional government. Results for the German Länder show that lower tier governments bear a relatively smaller part of the burden of debt consolidation, if they consolidate at all. Most of the fiscal adjustment occurs via central government debt. In contrast, both the US federal and state levels contribute to consolidation of public finances.

Peter Claeys (AQR-IREA), Raúl Ramos (AQR-IREA), Jordi Suriñach (AQR-IREA)

XREAP2007-14.pdf

This empirical work studies the influence of immigrant students on individuals’ school choice in one of the most populated regions in Spain: Catalonia. It has estimated, following the Poisson model, the probability that a certain school, which immigrant students are already attending, may be chosen by natives as well as by immigrants, respectively. The information provided by the Catalonia School Department presents school characteristics of all the primary and secondary schools in Catalonia during the 2001/02 and 2002/03 school years. The results obtained support the evidence that Catalonia native families avoid schools attended by immigrants. Natives certainly prefer not to interact with immigrants. Private schools are more successful in avoiding immigrants. Finally, the main reason for non-natives’ choice is the presence of other non-natives in the same school.

Adriana Sánchez Hugalde (IEB)

XREAP2007-15.pdf

La composición de la población española ha cambiado en los últimos años debido a la llegada de la población inmigrante. En este trabajo se acota cuánto podría llegar a cambiar la esperanza de vida en salud y en discapacidad de la población española, debido a la incorporación de un nuevo colectivo. La metodología propuesta permite calcular el máximo cambio posible en la esperanza de vida en salud y en discapacidad, en función de un porcentaje fijo de inmigración, y con el supuesto de mantenimiento de la mortalidad. Los resultados permiten analizar cambios en los costes de la dependencia para los mayores de 65 años.

Lluís Bermúdez Morata (RFA-IREA), Montserrat Guillén Estany (RFA-IREA), Aïda Solé Auró (RFA-IREA) 

XREAP2007-13.pdf

This paper analyses the performance of companies’ R&D and innovation and the effects of intra- and inter-industry R&D spillover on firms’ productivity in Catalonia. The paper deals simultaneously with the performance of manufacturing and service firms, with the aim of highlighting the growing role of knowledge-intensive services in promoting innovation and productivity gains. We find that intra-industry R&D spillovers have an important effect on the productivity level of manufacturing firms, and the inter-industrial R&D spillovers related to computer and software services also play an important role, especially in high-tech manufacturing industries. The main conclusion is that the traditional classification of manufactured goods and services no longer makes sense in the ‘knowledge economy’ and in Catalonia the regional policy makers will have to design policies that favour inter-industrial R&D flows, especially from high-tech services.

Agustí Segarra-Blasco (GRIT)

XREAP2007-12.pdf

Recent concessions in France and in the US have resulted in a dramatic difference in the valuation placed on the toll roads; the price paid by the investors in France was twelve times current cash flow whereas investors paid sixty times current cash flow for the U.S. toll roads. In this paper we explore two questions: What accounts for the difference in these multiples, and what are the implications with respect to the public interest. Our analysis illustrates how structural and procedural decisions made by the public owner affect the concession price. Further, the terms of the concession have direct consequences that are enjoyed or borne by the various stakeholders of the toll road.

Germà Bel (PPRE-IREA), John Foote  Forthcoming in Transport Reviews

XREAP2007-11.pdf

A renewed interest on the use of tolls for funding motorways and regulating their demands has been recovered in the last years. However, less attention has been put to the road safety effects derived from this policy. Although toll motorways show quality levels equal or above free motorways, charging users for the use of better infrastructure shifts some traffic to their low quality adjacent alternatives. In the present study we test whether charging for the use of the better road might negatively affect road safety in the worst adjacent road. The results confirm our hypothesis opening a new concern.

Daniel Albalate (PPRE-IREA)

XREAP2007-09.pdf

This paper explores the effects of two main sources of innovation —intramural and external R&D— on the productivity level in a sample of 3,267 Catalan firms. The data set used is based on the official innovation survey of Catalonia which was a part of the Spanish sample of CIS4, covering the years 2002-2004. We compare empirical results by applying usual OLS and quantile regression techniques both in manufacturing and services industries. In quantile regression, results suggest different patterns at both innovation sources as we move across conditional quantiles. The elasticity of intramural R&D activities on productivity decreased when we move up the high productivity levels both in manufacturing and services sectors, while the effects of external R&D rise in high-technology industries but are more ambiguous in low-technology and services industries.

Agustí Segarra-Blasco (GRIT)

XREAP2007-08.pdf

Muchos gobiernos regionales en los países desarrollados diseñan programas para mejorar la competitividad de las empresas locales. En este papel, evaluamos la efectividad de programas públicos cuyo objetivo es reforzar la actuación de las empresas localizada en Cataluña (España). Se compara la actuación de empresas subvencionadas (tratadas) con empresas similares, pero no subvencionadas (no tratadas). Se utiliza el Propensity Score Matching (PSM) para construir un grupo de control que, con respecto a las principales características, es muy similar al grupo tratado, lo que permite identificar empresas que presentan la misma propensión a recibir subvenciones. Una vez se ha establecido un grupo de comparación válido, se comparan los resultados de cada empresa. Como resultado se encuentra que, en promedio, las empresas tratadas cambian sus prácticas comerciales, mejoran su actuación, y aumentan su valor añadido como resultado directo de los programas públicos.

Néstor Duch (IEB); Daniel Montolio (IEB); Mauro Mediavilla

XREAP2007-07.pdf